Ashley presents the Countess de Castiglione/Pierre-Louis Pierson

So, I was talking to Larry the other day and he mentioned the Countess de Castiglione as some one thatwas very influential to photography. She is dead but still to awesome not to add on here. She was an Italian courtesan that married up and very famously had an affair with Napoleon III of France, during this time it is also supposed that she was an Italian spy. Anyway, she was a great patron of photography and together with her photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson they created over 700 images of herself some are painted on and other are straight photographic images but all were done under her direction. She had all of these taken as a chronicle of her life and beauty as she was considered one of the great beauties of her day.

She is also the the person I blame for the trend of girls photographing their feet and shoes on blogs the world over.

Rebecca Vllarreal reviews Erin V. Sotak

Erin V. Sotak is an awesome photographer that every photo student should look up multiple times. She has a spectacular use of color that gives all her work a sort of a really rich look. In most of her work she is bring back to life classic paintings, giving them a little bit of a modern twist. She’s clever in the different props she uses to tell her story.
I have to say she succeeds in her approach of telling a story, with a single image. She puts enough information in her photos that a viewer can discern the message she is trying to get across. Also she makes sure to put enough information in the photo to be able to figure out the historical work she is referencing, if she is referencing a historical work.
Looking at her work from purely execution of good work, she shines at that too. Her use of colors is so eye catching you can’t help but want to stare at any of her photos just to be amazed at the colors and how they play off each other. She mentions in her statement that she tends to use color with symbolic meaning, in her performance Chase lounge, the dramatic red wall on either side of her, does a great job of allowing the viewer to feel and see the dramatic passion, that is symbolized in a crimson red. In her piece Weeping Box, the grey rock wall behind her and the grey ground bring out that sad feeling associated with the color. Even just looking at the onions your mind already associates the idea of your eyes watering as though you are weeping; it’s a nice play with irony.
Her work for me is best summed up in her own words: “I believe in grand romantic gestures, epic failure, endless absurdity, aesthetic gasps and always hopeless optimism”
Her next show will be at Kendall College of Art and Design

To see her work go to her webstie www.erinvsotak.com

Rebecca Villarreal reviews Joy Christiansen Erb

Joy Christiansen Erb is a photographer in Youngstown, Ohio, she teaches at the Youngstown State University. She actively exhibits her work which also includes installations; her photographic work includes traditional processes, alternative processes and digital media. Some of her current exhibitions she has art in are Spinning Yarns: Photographic Story Tellers, Home…Is Where the Camera Is, and Louisiana Purchase: National Juried Exhibition.
What drew me to Christiansen Erb’s work were the images picked out in Libby’s catalog she passed around the other day. They were part of her Portrait of a Mother, series putting the two pictures of her c-section scar and her son’s heart surgery scar together, kind of rocked me in a weird cliché way. It sent a powerful message about life and some of the struggles mothers have to go through to keep their children and families going. After reading her statement in the catalog I was intrigued to see the rest of the series, to see if she actually was able to capture the change in her body and show the through the eyes of a mother what it feels like to watch your child be sick and not be able to fix it.
I would have to say she succeeded in her goals, going through the rest of the series you feel as though you are her with sleepless nights, seeing machines and tubes keep your child alive. I have yet to have one of my own, but those photos are powerful. I Where I think she failed a little was in her statement she said she was trying to step away from herself and be objective in her photos, I don’t know that I would say she was able to completely remove herself behind the camera.
In the end I’d have to say her work is compelling to experience, and it’s not just this series. Some of her other series on her website are really interesting and neat ideas that deal with family and its many aspects. You are also able to see how she incorporates image and installation.

David Alvarez submits MoCP Link

The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) is the only museum in the Midwest with an exclusive commitment to the medium of photography. By presenting projects and exhibitions that embrace a wide range of contemporary aesthetics and technologies, the Museum strives to communicate the value and significance of photographic images as expressions of human thought, imagination, and creativity.

David Alvarez reviews Tokihiro Sato

To view more of Sato's images click here.

Drawing with Light: Tokihiro Sato's Photographs

Tokihiro Sato was born in Japan in 1957, and attended the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with a specialization in Sculpture. As a student Sato learned how to use large format cameras to document his work, but it was in 1987 that he began to incorporate photography into his sculpture. His first experiments with this merger of the two media consisted of long exposures, in which Sato used flashlights to draw lines of light around his sculptures.

His experimentations excited him and he began to work increasingly in photography and shortly thereafter he pushed his 'light drawings' past sculpture into other media, nature in particular. Sato's technique is simple enough to explain, much harder to accomplish; he uses a large format camera and makes exposures that last anywhere from one to three hours. After he sets up the shot, he navigates the landscape and uses either flashlights or mirrors (to reflect sunlight) directed at the camera to trace lines in the space. Patience and discipline is definitely involved.

His images are beautiful, entrancing, and certainly surreal in my opinion; however, they are also much more than simple lines of light hovering in a landscape. They seem to be timeless, and yet at the same time they seem to record a passage of time. The 'light drawings' are much more than random sparks, swirls, and lines of light thrown into various landscapes; in each the lights left hovering in the images seem to reflect the mood of their respective landscapes. Whether it be tranquil and calm like in #323 Yotsukura or chaotic and reflective of moving across staircases as in #22.

Heesun Park reviews Barbara Probst

http://www.barbaraprobst.net/

Barbara Probst is a photographer and contemporary artist,She was born in Munich, Germany and lives and works in New York and Munich.

she images use multiple points of view by employing as many as twelve cameras and tripods, arranged around the subject, to photograph multiple points of view captured in separate images but taken simultaneously with a single radio-controlled shutter release.

When I go to Houston I had chance to see her work, I really wanted to use her techniques for my final work, but it was really hard. But I am sure I will try some day.

Hee sun Park reviews Kim sooja

She did many Installations check out her web!

have a nice day!

http://www.kimsooja.com/

by Sun

David Alvarez reviews Uta Barth

Uta Barth: Nowhere Near

Uta Barth was born in Berlin, Germany in 1958 and now lives and woks in Los Angeles. Unlike most photographers whom tend to focus on one subject or another to inform the content, Barth tends to blur her images so there is no clear subject. To accomplish her preferred aesthetic Barth not only experiments with focus, as previously mentioned, but with depth of field and framing to create photographs that are suggestive rather than descriptive. Moreover, Barth sees photography in two distinct ways; firstly in the technical aspect (the camera as an actual representation device). The second is much more conceptual; a metaphor for the human consciousness; an extension of the human psyche if you will.

In 1999 Barth presented a series of work entitled Nowhere Near: the photographs in this series were all shot at her house in LA through her living room window. They documented what she could see from this particular window over and expanse of 12 months. These photographs for me, were slightly boring at at first glance (This might have been different had I seen them the way they should have been exhibited and not pages in a book). However, I was intrigued and how empty they seemed...which made me study them more.

After reading up on both her processes and philosophies, I've come to enjoy the conceptual ideas that she portrays in her images. In my opinion, this series of work pushes an idea that we (as humans) have no control over nature, we just watch. The camera in this case is just an extension of our eye, and the lack of focus creates this feeling of longing (as if something is eluding or grasp) But what is it we are looking for? Is there something past this suburban neighborhood that is Nowhere Near us (Forever at an unreachable distance).

David Alvarez submits Freestyle Photo Link

Since 1946, Freestyle Photographic Supplies has provided photographic enthusiasts and professionals across America with quality photographic products, expert advice, and superior customer support. I'm a little suprised the link hasn't already been posted, either way, if you haven't been to this site, you should check it out.

Blair Bodden submits Redux Pictures Link

Redux Pictures is an independent commercial and editorial photo agency based in New York City with photographers located around the world. Check them out

Blair Bodden submits Frame Destination Link

This is a link to framing company out of Dallas. They have very reasonable prices. You can order just the frame or you can get the whole kit. Check it out.

David Alvarez reviews Alan Jaras

Lately I've been interested in the phenomenon's of light and color; the reflections and refractions of light as it bounces from surface to surface. Last semester while working on my final photo project (which dealt with the basic forms of light and color)I happened upon a British photographer in my search for artist with similar interest.

Alan Jaras, a retired research scientist and microscopist, creates these stunning (in my opinion) images using a single light beam that passes through varieties of textured and transparent forms. The pattern is captured directly on to 35mm film by removing the camera lens and putting the transparent object(s) in its place.

It's great that the abstractions created in this process create "images of strange microscopic or deep sea creatures or even galaxies forming in deep space," because it evokes the viewers imagination. However, the reason I'm truly impressed/stunned/ and in awe of his work is the experimentation and science associated with the process. One can definitely see the way Jaras plays with the light, bending it and twisting it to his whim. In the two pictures above, you can see a evolution of his technique and a mastery of light. The bottom is an earlier work called Crumpled Rainbow: Twisting Light #25 which seems like another experimentation with his process. The top images title alone, Metropolis I: Taming Light #45, shows his mastery of his process(the "taming" of light).

Hellen Van Meene by Salina Ellis

Van Meene is a portrait artist, but not your everyday documentary type portrait. The majority of her subjects are young girls, probably tweens, between the ages of 9 and 13. Their expressions appear distant, pensive, and melancholy. Their age and far away stares speak to the point at which they are in life. They are at the stage where they will be maturing into women, shedding the innocence of their childhood. To me their faces seem to mourn this loss. Other subjects in her work are interiors, and young boys.

The artist states that she starts with a sketched idea of what she wants the image to look like, including props, lighting and models. Once shooting begins, however, she allows the process to inform her direction. She uses only available light, also allowing it to inform the direction of her images.

Van Meene was born in 1972 in the Netherlands, she studied in Scotland and photographs all over the globe. Her work appears in several books, two of which are dedicated solely to her work.

Digital Truth Link by Salina Ellis

Its all here, supplies, forum, developing chart, articles, and product reviews. The Massive Dev chart will tell you how long to develop any film with any developer, there's also an app for it.

Alternative Photography Link by Salina Ellis

The alternative photography website has tons of information about alternative processes like cyanotype, image transfers and infrared. In addition to process details they offer a list of suppliers for photographic supplies.